Tag Archive | "PETERITE RUGBY"

St.Peter’s College staged a spectacular display of rugby when they came from behind 14-nil down to beat St. Anthony’s College Kandy by 37 points (5 tries, 3 conversions, 2 penalties) to 31 (3 tries, 2 conversions, 4 penalties) to reach the semi-finals of the Milo inter- schools ‘A’ Division knockout rugby tournament. The quarterfinal match played at the Royal Sports complex, Reid Avenue yesterday saw Anthonians lead 25-19 at half time.

St. Anthony’s drew first blood in the very first minute of play when off a rolling maul skipper and flanker Pasindu Dulshan touched down for a try. Fly half Samuel Maduwantha made the conversion for them to go 7-nil up.

In the 6th minute off a three quarter move Anthonian centre Dinuk Amarasinghe darted down for a try. Maduwantha made the conversion to extend their lead to 14-nil.

St. Peter’s opened scoring in the 11th minute when off a sweeping rolling maul hooker Ravin Yapa crashed through for a sensational try near the left corner flag, Sivaraj missed the conversion and the scoreline stood at 14-5.

In the 21st minute St Anthony’s increased their lead to 17-5 when Maduwantha slotted a 30-metre penalty.

In the 24th minute off a fabulous three quarter move Peterite centre Theekshana Dassanayaka scored a breathtaking try, Sivaraj made the conversion to cut the lead down to 17-12.

Maduwantha put over another penalty in the 26th minute to increase the scoreline to 20-12.

St. Peter’s kept on fighting and in the 36th minute off a tremendous three quarter move Dassanayaka scored again to reduce the score to 20-19.

On the stroke of half time Anthony’s scored again through their number eight Mendis but Maduwantha missed the conversion and the score read 25-19.

Soon after resumption in the 43rd minute St. Peter’s scored through the boot of Sivaraj and a try through centre Dassanayaka to take the lead for the first time in the game by 29 to 25.

In the 52nd minute Maduwantha put over another penalty for St. Anthony’s to cut down the lead to 29-28.

The Peterites increased the tally through another penalty by Sivaraj to take the score to 32-28.

Maduwantha put over another difficult penalty for the Anthonians to close the gap to 32-31.

In the 71st minute St. Peter’s virtually sealed the match when their hero centre Dassanayaka sent his full back Diyath Fernando over for a superb try mid right, Sivaraj missed the difficult conversion and the score read a remarkable 37-31 when the final whistle was blown.

St. Peter’s College hosted Dharmaraja College in their final match of the first round and managed to take down the boys from hill country 36-6 amidst tough weather conditions.

Courtesy: The Papare.

The Peterites have had an inconsistent season thus far having won 2 of their matches while losing the other two. The Rajans on the other hand came into this game already out of championship hunt after disappointing performances in their previous encounters.

From the kick off itself the visitors were clumsy as the home side drew first blood inside the first five minutes. It was the deputy skipper Rahal Delpachithra who pushed his way over the line after a brilliant run by their speedster Diyath Fernando. Stephan Sivaraj added the extras. (07-00)

A Few minutes later the Rajans cut back the deficit through a well taken penalty by Gimhan Deshapriya. He sent the ball sailing through the posts from 50-meters out. (07 – 03)Deshapriya got another opportunity to add three more points to the score but on this occasion he couldn’t find the power behind the kick from 40 yards out.

16 minutes into the game Peter’s extended their lead to 10 points through an easy penalty taken by Stephen Sivaraj. (10-03) Five minutes later the Peterites were penalized for straying offside inside their own 22 which gave Deshapriya another chance to add points to their tally. This time he made it look easy and bisected the uprights. (10–06)

St. Peter’s looked much more confident as the game went on and halfway through the first half, Diyath Fernando showed some individual brilliance when he scored under the post after a run from the half way mark. (15–06)

The visitors were down to 14 men towards the latter part of the first half when T Ratnayake was sent to the sin-bin due an illegal tackle. The Peterites pounced on the advantage and scored two tries on the trot. First one came from Sajith Seram. Following a scrum that was smartly taken by Avishka Heenpella, and passed to Seram, saw him pushing to the try line and going over. The next try came from the skipper Sandesh Jayawickrama and that too thanks to some smart thinking from the half back Heenpella. Sivaraj added the extras with ease in both occasions.

Half Time : St Peter’s College 29 – Dharmaraja College 06

The second half did not last long as the weather became dangerous with lightning strikes around the area. However before the referee decided to call off play, Theekshana Heshan scored their fifth try which was converted by Stephan Sivaraj to givethem a convincing victory over Dharmaraja College..

St. Peter’s College Rugby: Was The ‘Rock’ Sin Binned?

The saintly school from Bambalapitiya St. Peter’s College will always remain firstly as a top notch educational institute that uses sport as part of its extra curriculum to instill the building of character, embedding of deeply rooted values and discipline to its students. Historically the school has taken pride in the stellar job it always does, where the churning of young boys into fine astute men and releasing them to the world has been one of the school’s top most priorities.

However the recently concluded schools rugby season left gaping holes that continued to get even bigger as the season drew to a close. These gaping holes were the ones that the school authorities failed to plug in time, that eventually led to a plethora of unwanted twaddle, that finally appeared to have been fueled from within its system itself as the season ended. These issues seemed to be in retaliation for throwing out its former Coach Colin Denish and replacing him with Australian born Scottish Test Match rugby player/cum Coach Ben Mac Dougall.

The negative publicity that the school got through the latter part of the season should be sufficient for the authorities to take heed and learn a lesson or two themselves, as opposed to being entrusted the job of educating their very own kids through the means of sport.

This now completed season equally left many ardent fans and supporters of the school alike, with quizzical faces especially during certain games, where losing matches from seemingly winning positions, influenced flirting thoughts of matches being fixed.

*Photo courtesy The Nation

Similar words such as unexplainable, unfathomable, baffling, puzzling, perplexing, mystifying, strange and weird would have at some point in time crossed the minds of both its players and supporters alike too.

However the bewilderment that surrounded these thoughts could also be justified, as here were the seven – a – side champions, with their set of fleet footed runners losing matches at will and especially under rather mystifying circumstances.

If that was not the case, then seeking answers to questions such as its reliable Fly Half Sandesh Jayawickrama kicking zero kicks from eight attempts at goal, in their game against Royal College, to its captain Kevin Dixon not taking a crucial kickable match winning penalty against Isipathana, with a few minutes left on the clock and the sensational back to back season ending losses to both St.Thomas’ and Science Colleges’, would be tough to answer.

Was the under performance of the players harnessed by external forces along with the residue of support staff left behind by Denish that caused this mayhem? Or perhaps was it the bickering of the newly appointed Rugby Foundation board of members who assumed office mid way during the season causing more harm than good? Or was it the mentality of wining at all costs that back fired on them?

These are perhaps questions that the school’s authorities will have to dig deep to find answers for.

Some senior players were left shell shocked too, wondering as to why their very own team mates were committing basic error after error during the latter part of the season’s game, losing prized possession of the ball but moreover the games itself.

The question of matches lost on purpose by a set of players and influenced by external forces in their attempt to bring back their ousted Coach Colin Denish, will always be left unanswered.

But then again the benefit of the doubt needs to be given to the players as well, even though the ingredients are all available to cook up the most controversial of stews.

A disgruntled old boy summed it up best this way. “Our Fr. Rector Martin should have sacked the entire lot along with the ousting of Coach Denish and brought in a new set of support staff too. By keeping those who had and continue to have close ties with Denish, it was only a matter of time before they ended up ganging up together in retaliation of their buddy’s departure. There is a mafia that controls things from the side lines and our authorities have sadly failed in controlling those elements”.

A look at the concluded league season at a glance.

Game 1: Lost to St.Joseph’s College 10/17. Two tries scored. Captain Kevin Dixon carried off the field after a brilliant first half played by the Petes. Rugby dished out was like poetry in motion especially in the initial half.

Game 2: Beat Kingswood 13/12 in after Fly Half Sandesh Jayawickrama sailed a match winning kick to secure the side’s first league win.

Game 3: Beat Wesley College 45/22 with ease by scoring 8 tries.

Game 4: Lost to Isipathana 18/20. A crucial penalty from kicking distance with a few minutes left for the game to end was mysteriously not taken by skipper Kevin Dixon. The ball was kicked to touch instead. Some say that taking the kick and even missing it would have been the ideal decision, as the subsequent 22 yard drop out gives the ball back to the Petes.

Game 5: The seven a side champions record the season’s biggest win over C.W.W.Kannangara 107/5 running in a total of 17 tries.

Game 6: Beat Trinity 30/25 at Bambalapitiya by running down 6 tries.

Game 7: Lost to Royal 25/36. Perhaps this is where it all started to go pear shaped. Fly half and reliable place kicker Sandesh Jayawickrama kicks all five conversions, including 3 penalty kicks astray.

On the 11th of June 2015 the St.Peter’s Rugby Foundation appoints a new committee with Trinesh Fernando as its President.

Game 8: Lost to St. Thomas’ College 17/25. Even the Thomians were left shell shocked and amazed by this win.

Game 9: Lost to Science College 3/34. Science College is the side that is currently coached by Colin Denish the former Coach of St.Peter’s College. The Peterites played this game in a manner that was totally out of character compared to the way they competed during the rest of the season. They practically refused to score a single try in this game despite crossing the line of every opponent they played up until then. The only Peterite old boy who seemed happy with their loss was the Science College Coach Denish. He was witnessed gleaming from ear to ear and carried on the shoulders by his team’s supporters who were also observed jeering the Peterite authorities in front of the VIP area.

The following day Coach Ben Mac Dougall called over to meet Fr. Rector Trevor Martin and subsequently, it was amicably decided that they part ways for the greater good of the school.

Colombo Telegraph did speak to Fr. Rector Martin who said “we did make a massive investment and we did not achieve the desired results. I had many old boys and parents breathing down my back and I had to make a call. No, no. I was not influenced by anyone to get rid of the Coach, but during our discussion it was decided by both parties that for the best interest of the school, that Coach Mac Dougall and us part ways. This was sadly reported erroneously by the media”.

When Colombo Telegraph contacted Ben Mac Dougall to get his version of the story, he sent in this email “I need to be 100% truthful so with my statement I want to clarify “Pressure from outside sources”. I felt that some boys did not handle the pressure and expectations from some old boys, parents and other external influences like personal friendships and divided loyalties to the former coach. There was even talk Colin had contacted some boys in the week leading up to the Science match. But let’s give the boys the benefit of the doubt and were not influenced.

I do not wish to implicate the boys in any way.

I did my best to protect and shield the players from these outside influences but ultimately they are children and some are not equipped with the mental skills to effectively deal with such issues. Even I have never experienced such situations like these and found it very challenging to try and counteract all the different forces at play.

Further to external I had internal pressure from within, there was a clear divide in the loyalty of those who were part of my back room team (Manager, Doctor, MIC) and some other influential old boys were all big supporters of the former coach Colin Dinesh and were reluctant for change.

Prior to the science match an issue with the College Doctor arose when he incorrectly diagnosed our captain Kevin Dixon with a hamstring tear contrary to other medical opinions (Physiotherapist/Trainer). An ultrasound scan was undertaken on my request and he was cleared of any such injury but by then Kevin was mentally down and as a result lost confidence and his form suffered badly.

In the end I felt these factors undermined the team’s performance and my ability to coach St Peters. So on Sunday the day after the Science College match I had a meeting with Father Rector at 3pm and officially I stepped down as Director of Rugby.

The Following messages and questions where conveyed to Father Rector at the meeting:

“As a coach I can accept mistakes and errors in judgment from players on the rugby field but a lack of effort and commitment I cannot forgive”.

“The Science match on the 20/6/2015 was vastly inconsistent with how the boys performed in the other matches during the season”.

“The Question of why did we perform to such a poor level in the Science College match will remain one of the great mysteries of my season coaching St. Peters”.

“I am baffled why we could not score single try against science yet we scored 5&6 tries against Royal and Trinity Colleges respectively in the matches leading into this game”.

If the exit of Coach Mac Dougall seemed controversial, then the entry of its new Coach Rajeev Perera and Trainer Mothilal Jayathilake did eventually write their own script of controversy too. Jayathilake who carries a blotched past as a Trainer, soon had players feeling sick in the gut, after a supplement was introduced to them during the week leading up to their quarter final game. It was also confirmed that this supplement was administered without the consent of the players’ parents.

However the school authorities in a last ditch effort at winning at all costs, did have their subsequent plans short lived. St.Peter’s did eventually lose to Science College yet again within the span of a week, but not before it was witnessed that the players’ and the support staff’s attitudes seemed different now, minus their foreign Coach. They died a more merciful and dignified death this time around losing by 22 points to 27.

Captain Kevin Dixon was observed running onto the field displaying a new found sense of enthusiasm that also showcased the gleaming smiles of the support staff seated on the bench. Players running behind Dixon were all given ‘high fives’ to boost their confidence by their skipper. They were so pumped up this time, that the very same jaded side of a week ago, not only crossed their opponent’s line once but on four occasions.

Firstly the boys were given a supplement to pump them up during the lead up to this game, something that the now resigned Coach Mac Dougall refrained from using during the season when he was their Coach.

However when Colombo Telegraph contacted the schools appointed Doctor Clive James to clarify this, he confirmed that the school authorities had specially brought in Mothilal Jayathilake an additional Trainer for the knock outs, who sought his permission to administer ‘NO Explode’ a nitric oxide performance enhancing supplement.

“In 2010, I banned this supplement from being administered to the school boys of St. Peter’s College, as then the content ‘caffeine’ found in the supplement fell under the ‘monitored’ category of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This meant that it was neither cleared nor banned and I did not want to take any chances. However in this instance, I informed him that the said supplement was now cleared and it could be administered in small doses” said Dr.James.

When Dr. James was asked if this supplement has any other side effects and also if the parents’ permission was sought to administer this supplement to the players, he said “Yes, if taken on the long term it can certainly affect the kidneys and no, I am unaware if the trainer Mothilal Jayathilake had sought parental permission to administer it”.

Dr. James also confirmed that he was not present when the supplement was administered and also did not deny the fact that something else could have been introduced during his absence.

Fitness and Nutrition specialists have confirmed that no symptoms of vomiting are known when the supplement ‘NO Explode’ is usually taken unless something else is introduced.

However when Colombo Telegraph contacted a parent of one of the senior team’s players, it was highlighted that leading up to the knock outs, the boys were given only a whey protein which was clearly explained to the parents by a sports medicine doctor from the Kalubowila South Government Hospital. This was when a seminar was conducted on health, fitness and nutrition for the parents of players earlier.

“I found my boy vomiting in the toilet and when I inquired he said that prior to practices the trainer Mothilal Jayathilke had given them something to drink in order to boost their fitness levels. It was also strange to see my otherwise fit son sleeping for longer periods of time during the pre-knockout week” said the parent who did not wish to be named.

“Half a scoop each before practice, that’s what I instructed Jayathilake to give them” said Dr. James. “As long as it is taken in small dosages its fine. But if you abuse its intake on the long term you are bound to suffer renal / kidney problems” concluded the doctor.

Colombo Telegraph made many calls in its quest to find out what exactly led to this controversial season.
The controversies surrounding this season even had a sport website firstly uploaded comments of old boys under their covered match story and then strangely had them removed. On further examination it was revealed that the website belongs to the company that the current Rugby Foundation President Trinesh Fernando works for.

People spoken to:

Fr. Rec. Trevor Martin (Principal) – St. Peter’s College
Ben Mac Dougall (Rugby Coach -7’s and League)
Sunil Aponso (Rugby Manager) – Admitted that he had spoken to a reporter of a newspaper even though he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Trinesh Fernando (Present President Rugby Foundation) – Declined to comment but provided necessary telephone numbers of the relevant school authorities.
Nigel Forbes (Former President Rugby Foundation) – Declined to comment.
Troy Bartlett (Sports Secretary-SPC) – Declined to comment but advised to speak to Fr. Rector Trevor Martin.
Dr. Clive James (School appointed Doctor) – Admitted he advised Trainer Mothilal Jayathilake that the supplement ‘NO Explode’ is permitted by WADA .

* A host of other old boys and parents of players were spoken too, but they wished to remain anonymous.

It is now clear that somewhere along the season the words of the founding fathers’ of St. Peter’s, the motto of the school “Virtus Et Veritas” (Virtue and Truth) and its rugby motto “Our Game Our Passion Our Life” was knocked on and lost.

It is best hoped that the school’s authorities find these lost values soon, but most of all their lost dignity of this season and weed out the unwanted shrub in gearing themselves in time for the next season.

It is also wished that they would go back to the days where the sport of rugby was played both hard and clean and run by a set of authorities laden with integrity and honour.

Perhaps they could also seek the advice that their late Coach and famous son, Archibald Perera, who used to always say “play clean and hard rugby, by getting both arms around your man, push with the shoulder and pull with both arms and bring your man down clean. From the base of the scrum, give the ball out to the fourth man, one step and out and let him score.”

His explanation to the abbreviated word “Rugger” and how it should be played went like this – “Ruggered, Ugly, Double Guts, Entertainment & Recreation” – and how true the revered ‘Archie’ was !

Inter-school Rugby.

Isipatana College, Colombo continued their unbeaten run as they beat St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya 20 (4 unconverted tries) points to 18 (1 goal, 1 unconverted tries and 2 penalties) in an Under-20 Singer inter-school Rugby encounter played at Bamabalapitiya yesterday.

St. Peter’s playing under lot of pressure, after having lost two games did not have enough fire power to overcame Patana defense line. Skipper Kevin Dixon was an exception.

Patana are faring badly with the boot in this year’s league and the trend continued yesterday.

Patana drew first blood when skipper Omalka Gunaratne, by far the best schools rugby player this season sneaked through few defenders to touch down near the right side of the post. Isuru Udayakumara failed to add the extra points as the score red five points to nil three minutes into the game.

Then Petes made some attacking moves to obtain a 25 meter penalty which was successfully booted by Sandesh Jayawickrama.

Patana’s winger Dilan Gallge got his act together, fended off more than two Peterities to touch down near the left flag corner. Isuru failed to add the extra points again.

Sandesh Jayawickrama did no mistake with his second penalty in the 28th minute with score line reading ten points to six.

Patana skipper Gunaratne who is the highest try scorer of the league scored his ninth try in the 36th minute off the driving maul as the half time score red 15 points to six.

In the second half, St. Peter’s broke the try deadlock when they scored the first try of the evening. Harshana Peiris crossed the try line left side of the post. Jayawickrama failed to add the extra points.

Then Rehan Silva came good for green shirts when he sneaked through few defenders to cross the try line. He took the score to 20 points to 11 in their favour.

The last try of the day came when centre player Nishan Perera ran collected a smart kick by Kevin Dixson to finish just right side of the post. Jayawickrama added the extra points as the game ended 20 points to 18.

Peterite Rugby lineage is rich with talent together with the true spirit of the game and it is with no doubt the Blue, White and Gold Brigade have made up their name as consistent performers of the game through-out the history of eighty two years.

History of the Game at St. Peter`s College.

Having the privilege of being the fourth institution to introduce the oval shaped ball game to the island, Enthusiastic young Rugby hopefuls of St. Peter’s College donned the now glorious College Colours of Blue, White and Gold for the first time, in 1932 under the Rectorship of Rev. Fr. D.J Nicholas Perera. The brilliant Rugby player and sportsman, Mr. Herbert Wittahatchy took over the fortunes of Peterite Rugby in the same year, as Prefect of Games. No one dreamed that a glorious history was about to be created.

Brilliantly moulding a team of fresher’s together with Lim Billimoria, the first Peterite Rugby captain: St. Peter’s entered the then Ceylon Schools Rugby arena with its inaugural 1st XV in the same year -1932. St. Peter`s College became the fourth school in history of Sri Lankan Rugby to play at competitive level.

St. Peter’s College has produced many brilliant rugby players in her 82 year old Rugby history feeding National teams with high quality players both with skills and discipline coming out of its system in every decade. Peterite rugby players have found favor with many leading Rugby Clubs and are always in great demand due to this since even pre- independence days during which British expatriates dominated the game.

Many Peterites have featured prominently in All Ceylon, Ceylonese or Sri Lankan XV’s or even at 7’s. They’ve brought much honour and glory to St. Peter’s College, its rugby and its fervent followers when ever they’ve donned the Blue White and Gold jersey or the national jersey against visiting teams or playing on foreign soil.

In the last decade, players like Dilanka Wijesekera who was the youngest school boy player to represent both national 7s and 15s side, Dilan Abeygoonawardena, Poornaka Delpachithra, Mohamed Sheriff, Rajiv Perera, Ishan Noor, Keith Gurusinghe, Suhiru Anthony, Sandun Hearth, Dhanushka Ranjan, Shenal Dias have proved that St. Peter`s Rugby has always understood it`s National duty and have performed it well.

Last Season

In 2013, the Peterite Brigade was led by the Fly-Half Shan Weerakody. Werakkody as the skipper led the side in to a glorious position during the last season. Emerging as the champions of the School Rugby Seven`s tournament helped them to start of the season in grand style. However, during the season St. Peter`s had a bumpy ride winning 5 matches by even beating the President’s trophy champions Wesley College and suffered 4 defeats. However the Blue, White and Gold brigade concluded the season in third place.

Pre- Season

The lads from the Bambalapitiya began their pre-season practice sessions in the month of October 2013. Under the instructions of the trainer Niroshan Benedict, the boys were put through their paces in the criteria of pres season training and fitness which is an essential factor of the game before they stepped in to ground training.

St. Peter`s reached the cup semi-finals in the recently concluded School Rugby Sevens championship which gave them enough motivation to begin the season and convert it to a victorious one.

Peterite Rugby Administration

Powered by the Old Peterites, the Administration staff is rendering it`s best to the boys to perform and prove the legacy. Old Peterite Collin Dinesh has taken over the responsibility as the coach for the 2014 season as well. This gentleman needs no introduction to the Sri Lankan Rugby arena. Having coached the Colombo School`s side in the Year 2013, he holds immense experience within him to lead the boys to a victorious season this year.

Together with the Head Coach, Rev. Fr. Lakmin Parasanga the Sports Coordinator of the college and the Rugby Foundation of St. Peter`s College under the leadership of the Nigel Forbes, are right in to the boys providing them with facilities and enough encouragement to make this season a season to remember.

Team Manager Mahesh De Sliva and the trainer Niroshan Benedict fills up the rest to create the back bone of the Peterite Rugby.

Kevin Dixon the Peterite Driving Force

Third year player and with one more year in hand Kevin Dixon is without doubt one player that each opponent has to worry about. Playing under the leadership of Dhanushka Ranjan and Shan Weerakody in the previous years, he holds the biggest bag of experience with in the team. Playing in his new position as the center he is a ferocious player with one goal in mind; which is to score the try and to make the team victorious. Dixon`s knowledge that he carries within himself about the game provides the force to display his ball and foot skills which he will use to create gaps in the opponents line and to break down the opposition defence to touch the ball on the grass and make it count. Everyone will be placing their eyes on this young talent which is blooming up with and he will be tested in this season.

Nishon Perera : Vice Captain at his best.

Second year player and with one more year in hand the Vice-Captain for this season is lending his supporting hand to the skipper to martial the troops well. Playing in the position of Flanker, Perera is an impact player who is fearless in tackling the opponent at any time. Ending up the last season in a respectable manner he walks out with immense ball skills which could be used to score at any given time in an open gap. His experience will help the Bambalapitiya boys to win games and win respectably.

Shamri Bura : The boy with Rugby in his Blood.

Son of late Mr. Fazal Bura who is the former prop forward of CH&FC, he was born and bought up with rugby in his blood. He is one of the most important assets that St. Peter`s College holds for the season. Playing in the position of Fly-Half his ball handling skills will be tested this season as he is an expert in it. The team highly depends on his decision making skills which is considered a talent which will be the main factor of set play for the Peterite Lads.

Conclusion

St. Peter`s College with a history of 92 years and a Rugby History of 82 years have always been a side which every opponent has to worry about. With their consistent performance through-out the history they have proved that the Blue, White and Gold brigade is always good at come backs and arising from the dead. Concluding the last year`s season in the third place and this year under the captaincy of Senal Aponso the Peterites will set foot on lawn to bring glory to their game which they describe as their passion and their life. Their conquest this year would start from one of the heavy weights in the tourney, Kingswood College, Kandy as they would play their first game on the20nd of March.

A Sri Lankan sports journalist has listed some of the most memorable rugby battles between Trinity College and St. Peter's College.

The annual schools rugby fixture between St. Peter’s and Trinity is one of the oldest schools rugby matches and some of those memorable games are:

1956: At Bogambara Trinity led by David Frank and considered to be one of the strongest ever sides were held by the Peterites and with the game in the home stretch the score was nil all when disaster struck the Peterites as one of their players got injured and was carried off the field. The Peterites reduced to fourteen (no substitutions were allowed in that era) conceded seventeen points in the dying stages of the game.

1965: At Bambalapitiya the Peterite side led by the late Darrel Wimalaratne lost in a close game which was their only defeat of the season. They were the unofficial school champions.

Five players from that side including the captain himself went on to represent the Combined Colleges in their annual fixture against the University. The others were Royden de Silva, Hamzee Hameed, Ranjan Rajendran and Rodney Paternott.

1969: At Bambalapitiya the Peterites led by Sunil Perera (son of Archibald) confronted the unbeaten Trinity side. The Peterites took the lead and prevented Trinity from scoring but a penalty, late in the game by Shafi Jainudeen enabled them to squeeze out a draw and escape defeat.

1971: At Bambalapitiya a strong Trinity side that included a future Sri Lanka rugby captain Irwin Howie took what many thought was a convincing 11-0 lead at half time.

But St. Peter’s came back in the second half to equalize and force an honourable draw. For the Peterites it was like playing in two cup finals in one week for they met Issipatana on the Monday of the same week and were held to a five all draw. Jizvi Nizar captained the Peterites.

1972: At Nittawela on a Tuesday evening the Peterites considered the strongest schools side led by the irrepressible Jeffrey de Jong in a side that also included his brother Travis, Ronald Rodrigo, Noel Vanlangenberg, and Nimal Jayasuriya stunned the large crowd present with some superb rugby and with a 10-nil lead seemed to have the game under control but Trinity keeping to their “motto” ‘Respice Finem’ made a comeback to register another close victory.

The Peterites only defeat for that season was at the hands of Trinity. The Peterites were the schools unofficial champions.

1973: At Bambalapitiya Trinity were holding on to a one point lead and with the minutes ticking away the Peterites came storming into the Trinity 22 and were awarded a penalty. Here was the moment of truth for the Peterites since they still had to register a Post War victory. (a hoodoo).

Expectations were high but to the dismay of the Peterites the normally reliable Frankie Hubert’s kick hit the cross bar and with it the final whistle. A Peterite victory like the elusive dream had to wait for some unknown date in the future.

1984: At Bogambara St. Peter’s took an early lead through a fine try by their winger and held on to this lead till the very last moment when Trinity were able to score and seal victory.

It seems on that day that St. Peter’s were denied justice as the referee interpretation or either misinterpretation or sheer ignorance of the law on injury time was the contributory factor.

St. Peter’s didn’t have to wait long as in the following year 1985 they scored an 8-0 victory at Longden Place helped by two unconverted tries by Rovern Gunasekera and Crofton Joseph to break a 44 year old jinx.

It seems an irony of fate that the legendary Archibald Perera who coached generations of Peterite rugby players and when one speaks of Peterite rugby it is synonymous with Archie as he was affectionately called in his lifetime as coach never witnessed a Peterite victory over Trinity as he died in 1982.At the commencement of every season he would extol his charges with refrain “beat Trinity”.

It still echoes like music to the ears of those rugby players of the Golden Archie era when it was considered schools rugby’s biggest achievement for any school to beat Trinity.

St. Peter's College , a school with a proud rugby history with a star studded line up are confident of performing well in the Singer inter school under 20 'A' division league rugby tournament.

Their main target is the 'A' division league title and already they have recorded victories against several heavyweights in the Schools rugby arena including Science (27-22), S.Thomas' (44-12), Dharmaraja (47-15), St.Anthony's (32-17), St. Joseph's (16-11) and held formidable Kingswood College Kandy to a 14 all draw. But they suffered a 5 – 18 defeat at the hands of Royal College Colombo last week.

The Peterite rugby renaissance began in 2005 when led by Sajith Adikari, they clinched the Milo knockout Championship by overcoming Kingswood.

In the following year(2006) led by Number Eight Haren Ariyawardena, the Peterites had a superb season clinching the rugby double, the Singer League and the Milo Knockout Tournament.

In 2007, led by Scrum-Half Ranuka Jayasinghe, the Peterites were the undisputed champions remaining unbeaten and bagging both the Singer A division league and Milo Knockout tournament.

Three years later(2010) led by Number Eight Keith Gurusinghe, they clinched the Singer league title and were adjudged joint Milo Knockout Champions with Royal when the final was not played due to a court injunction.The man who brought about this remarkable change in Peterite fortunes was none other than Sanath Martis, a rugby coach par excellence, who went onto become Sri Lanka under 19 coach.

St.Peter's College which took to rugby in 1932 has produced several players who have represented Sri Lanka with distinction Nizar Hadji Omar, Angelo Wickremeratne and Dilanka Wijesekara went onto captain Sri Lanka.

Leading the Peterites is third year player Shenal Aponso, a fine hooker and excellent player in the loose.

The First choice for the prop forwards berth will be Udara Anjana , the other players who could fit into this position are Roshen Rajapaksa, Gihan Fernando , Rahal Delpechitra, Nishanthan Bhaskar and Hareen Biyanwila. Skipper Shenal Aponso will play in his pet position as hooker with Raveen Yapa, Kusal Ravinatha and Yohan Jason.

Maleesha Rajapaksa, Shehan Mark de Silva and Dilshan Fonseka will be eyeing the lock forwards berths. Deputy skipper Nishon Perera, who is another talented player in the team is the first choice among the flankers. Ranith Silva, Shane Gurusinghe and Sajith de Saram are the others to assist him.

Frank Roger , an enthusiastic player will play as the Number eight with Hasindu Fernando while seasoned Steve Dharmaratne and Ramal Fernando will battle it out for the scrum halves berth. Experienced Shamry Burah, who has contributed a lot to Peterites success, will play as fly half with Sandesh Jayawickrama also eyeing this berth.

Avishka Ranasinghe, Ramesh Fernando, Deshan Fernando and Luke Lakshan will battle it out for the Centre three quarter berths.

The battle hardened Shallon Direckze will support the side by playing as winger with Diyath Fernando and Harshana Peiris. Kevin Dickson, a superb runner who scored a hat-trick of tries against S.Thomas'will occupy the last line of defence.

Kamesh Fernando is the other player who could fit into this position.

Former St.Peter's, Havelocks and Sri Lanka under 20 ruggerite Colin Denish, who captained the school in 1989 has taken over the responsibility of building up of the team.

He is confident that the boys will perform better this time and they would regain their lost prestige.

St. Peter’s coasted to their third successive win of the Singer U20 Schools Rugby League Tournament when they outclassed defending champions Dharmaraja by 41 points to 15 in a fourth round Division A Segment I match played at the Air Force ground in Ratmalana yesterday.

St. Peter’s having taken a comfortable 26-8 lead at the breather accumulated their points through four goals, two tries and a penalty against a goal, a try and a penalty by Dharmaraja.

Referee – Gamini Indrasena.What was expected happened at this match played today (30th April) at the Air Force grounds Ratmalana. St. Peter's was expected to beat the reigning league champions, Rajans and they did that handsomely with a score of 41 – 15.

The first 15 – 20 minutes of play seemed to be the period when both sides were testing the winds. After missing a penalty against the Peterites for being off side around the 8th minute of play, the Rajan's were the first to put points on the board when a second penalty awarded to them was kicked right by their place kicker Viraj Weerasekera. Rajans led 3 – 0 much to the delight of their supporters.

This seemed to have been the tonic St. Peter's needed and they got their act together in the 25th minute when Kevin Dixon collected the ball off a mid field move and ran in from the right flank to score under the post. Shamri Burah added the extra points to give the Peterites the lead, 7 – 3. Within minutes Nishon Perera the flanker scored under the posts after collecting a ball that was booted ahead by Kevin Dixon and Burah made no mistake with the conversion to increase the lead to 14 – 3.

Almost immediately after the resumption, Deshan the wing three quarter scored mid right but Burah's kick was awry and the score read 19 – 3. Next to score was Ravith Mishael in the 35th minute off a good move and with the conversion successful and the score read 26 – 3.

Almost on the stroke of half time, the Peterites were penalised and the Rajans capitalising on the opportunity, managed to barge through for a try which went unconverted and the score at the breather was 26 – 8.

After the turnaround it took 20 minutes before the Peterites added more points to their tally when Ravith Mishael scored his 2nd try to bring the score to 31 – 8 (the conversion attempt having failed). Almost immediately on resumption Steve Dharmaratne shook off a few defenders to score which was converted to bring the score to 38 – 8.

A little while later a penalty in front of the post was converted by Burah to take the score past the 40 point mark, 41 – 8 to be exact.

In the dying stages of the game the referee awarded a penalty try to the Rajans after finding the Peterites committing persistent offenses close to their goal line. This try was goaled by the Rajans and the score board read 41 – 15 when the referee blew no side.

Earlier in the 2nd half, the Peterite captain was sent to the sin bin though the writer does not know the offense, but what is of significance is that this is the 3rd match in a row when he has had to suffer this ignominy and it is best remedied by the coaching staff.

Referee – Gamini Indraratne

Of the Junior games only the under 16 games was played which the Peterites won 7 – 0.

Like this:

St. Peter’s drubbed S. Thomas’ by 44 points to 12 in a Group A match of the Singer U20 Schools rugby league tournament played at Havelock Park earlier this month.

The match which was expected to be a close contest turned out to be a one sided affair with the Peterites having things their own way. The Bambalapitiya boys surged through to a 20-5 lead at lemons and made up their points through three goals, four tries and a penalty as against to a goal and a try scored by the Mount Lavinia schoolboys.

Peterite flanker Kevin Dixon and full back Diyath Fernando had a field day sharing six of the seven tries scored with the other being scored by winger Nishon Perera.

However it was the Thomians who made the first scoring as early as in the fourth minute through an unconverted try scored by center Kasun Jayanatha. That was all that they could manage in this session as the Peterites ran circles around them with their first try coming in the 11th minute which was by Diyath and a minute later Kevin going over of which fly half Shamri Burah being able to make only one conversion.

Ten minutes later Shamri made no mistake with a penalty offered for an infringement for Petes to increase their lead 15-5. The Peterites succeeded to penetrate the Thomian defence again with Diyath going over for his second try with Shamri failing the conversion. The short whistle saw the Petes take a 20-5 lead.

The resumption saw the Peterites going into the attack and giving the Thomian defence a torrid time. In the sixth minute winger Nishon Perera’s sprint down the left corner flag for a try resulted in them increasing the lead and Shamri’s kick at goal being perfect saw the Petes stretching the lead 27-5.

The Thomians undeterred rallied to punch holes in the Petes defence and succeeded in reducing the deficit with center Navin Henakankange going for a try which gave Hans Walpola an easy kick at goal.

By M. Shamil Amit – Courtesy: Mirror Sports

But the Peterites from there on had the Thomians defence under tremendous pressure and struggling to evade relentless attack. Back to back tries by flanker Kevin Dixon in the 19th and 27th minutes though the conversions were fluffed sealed the game for the Peterites.

Full back Diyath Fernando put the issue beyond doubt with his third try of the match which was converted by Sandesh Jayawickrama saw them ending up victorious to remain unbeaten and also retain the Archibald Perera trophy.